


Sam's Story

by Pixelatrix



Series: Universal Truth One-Shots: Darby & Wallace [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-13
Updated: 2013-09-13
Packaged: 2017-12-26 11:24:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/965382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelatrix/pseuds/Pixelatrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is from a kissing meme drabble prompt, kiss in the rain, though it doesn't quite count.</p>
<p>This is the story that I allude to a couple times in Universal Truth(and in future chapters) about Sam, and something that happened in boot camp that involved Darby saving Wallace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sam's Story

**Author's Note:**

> Beta: Celtic Grace
> 
> Bioware owns All

**_  
_**"Joe." Darby barely got the word out as she ended up dunked in the river again.  She surfaced spluttering.  With an aggravated sigh, she used her biotics to freeze Sam, again. "Joe. Get him to shore."

"And you think you can carry _the Wall_ on your own?" Joe didn't seem to give a shit about their fellow recruit. "Sam can wait. He can't."

"He's not that heavy in the water. Get Sam to the others so they can hold on to him.  Then you can come back and help me get this fucking _giant_ out of the water." Darby snapped at him. "Go. No one is fucking dying tonight."

"Bossy bitch." Joe grinned at her before starting the swim to shore with Sam who started struggling the minute the biotic stasis failed.  

Darby floated on her back with the knocked-out Wallace on her. She had her arms wrapped as far around him as she could get to keep him from slipping under the water again.  It was the middle of the night. Rain was pouring down, and their training had gone to fucking hell. 

Sam was one of the more...sensitive members of their recruit class. He came from a military family, and the pressure on him was massive. He'd snapped in the middle of the river.  It had been impossible to grab him before he swung the butt of his rifle into the back of Wallace's head.  They were the only four in the river at the time.  Joe had immediately gone for Sam while she struggled to keep Wallace from drowning.  He’d been under the water a little bit before she’d managed to drag him back up.

A scream from shore caught her attention.  She could barely make out the other recruits struggling to control Sam.  Joe was on the ground, but she couldn't tell why. 

_Fuck._

It took all of her effort to start swimming awkwardly to shore.  She barely kept both of them above the surface.  He was a heavy fucking bastard.  She kicked as hard as she could towards the safety of land.  Letting her instructor drown would _not_ look good on her file, she couldn’t help the absurd laughter that bubbled up and got a mouthful of dirty water for her effort.

By the time that she was close enough, two of the other recruits rushed out to help. They’d finally managed to knock Sam out; it had probably been the only way to secure him.  Joe was on the ground and appeared to be in utter agony.  He was clutching at his legs.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

“Go get the other instructors. _Now._ ” She yelled the moment that Wallace was safely out of the water. 

Darby crouched down and listened to his chest.  With the thunder and rain, she couldn’t hear a damn thing and he didn’t seem to be breathing. _Shit._ On the list of things that she had intended to do today, CPR had not been a high priority. Pinching the bridge of his nose, she pressed her lips against his and then shot back up when she felt his tongue brush against them.

“Bastard.” She punched him lightly on the arm.  Collapsing on her back in the dirt, she decided _not_ to think about kissing her drill instructor. “Fucking bastard. That’s the last time that I try to save your fucking life.”

There wasn’t time for him to respond.  Lights flooded the area as the rest of the instructors swarmed around to take control of the situation. Sam was immediately taken for a psyche evaluation, she assumed.  Joe had to be airlifted to the nearby hospital.  Wallace refused to ride along; instead he stumbled to the med-bay.

By the time that she got back to the barracks, showered and changed into dry fatigues, Darby was beyond exhausted.  She wasn’t quite sure how she made it to her bunk, but she was asleep the minute her body hit the bed.  

Everything hurt when she woke up the next morning, or afternoon given the position of the sun that was blinding her.  She sat up slowly and waited for the momentary lack of vision to clear.  She turned to find Wallace sitting on the bunk next to hers.  He was watching her with an oddly serious look on his face.

“What the hell were you doing out there, kid?” His voice lacked the normal angry, bite that cowered most of the recruits in her class.

“Swimming with a fucking _Wall_ on my chest?” She said the first thing that came to her, which was usually a terrible idea.

He barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Sam’s going to be Cat 6’d.  We’re going to avoid mentioning the full reasons why.  Joe’s leg is permanently damaged and he’s getting honorably discharged.”

“Shit.” Darby ran her hands through her hair to gain some semblance of order to it. “And me?”

“Since the full story isn’t in the report, you simply pass your _river_ training with flying colors.” Wallace seemed troubled by that. “I’m impressed by the way that you took control last night. You didn’t panic. You saved three lives because of it, mine included.”

Darby shrugged and stared down at her bare feet. “It’s what you’re fucking training us to do. Nothing special.”

“Hey.”

She looked up at him, noticing for the first time that his eyes were a warm, dark brown. “Yea?”

“Thanks, kid.” He tossed something at her.

She caught the medal in her hand and looked at it. “You have a Star of Terra, sir?”

“I did.” Wallace stood up to head for the door.

“You did, sir?”

“I decided to give it to someone who I can’t _officially_ recommend for an award.” He glanced back at her. “You did good.  And for the record, you are _something_ special.”

“Do I still have head cleaning duties?” She decided to push her luck.

“Did you steal all the beers from the Officer’s mess?” He raised an eyebrow.

“There’s no fucking proof and you know it.” Darby grinned at him.

“Then yes, you do still have to clean the bathrooms.” Wallace ignored her groan and left the barracks.

_Ungrateful bastard._

 

 

 

 


End file.
